Guide for paper cutters



April 16, 1940. M 2,197,260

GUIDE FOR PAPER CUTTERS Filed Sept. 1, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 16,1940, F. M. PICKETT 2, 60

GUIDE FOR PAPER 'puTTERs Filed Sept. 1, 1939 2 SheetsSheet 2 flanzz'Mlwiezz Patented Apr.16,1940 v Q 7 2,197,260

2,197,260 I GUIDE FOR-PAPER oUT'rERs Frank M. Pickett, Darien, Conn, assignor to Remington Rand Inc., Buffalo, N. Y.

Application September 1, 1939, Serial No. 293,011 I 6 Claims. (Cl. Hi l-47.) p This invention relates to a guide for paper illustrating the construction of the Supporting v UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE cutting machines. member. I The invention provides a guidingv mechanism Fig. is an end view of the supporting member for attachment to a paper cutting machine for as shown in Fig. 4. v 5 cutting paper or other sheet material, arranged Paper cutters and cutters'for similar types of 5 to receive the end of a paper strip being fed and sheet material using two sets of knives arranged guide it between the separated cutters. to operate simultaneously for cutting cards and The invention is particularly applicable to pathe like, Where the knives arev arranged so that per cutting devices having a' pair of spaced one is adjustable withr'espect to the other to cutting mechanisms arranged for adjustment relchange the size of the card or sheet being cut 10 ative to each other for cutting sheets to desired from a strip or larger sheet, are well known in size. the art.

As the cutter mechanisms of conventional cut- In cutting cards and other paper sheet maters operate simultaneously to cut sheet material terial it has been found that the sheetmaterial into sections of a length equal to the distance frequently curls downwardly during its feeding f between the cutters, it is customary to feed the between the two cutters preparatory tocuttin'g, end of the sheet from the first cutter through the the downward bending or curling of the end being second cutter for the next cutting operation. It sufiicient that it will not pass between the rear is found that sheet material has a tendency to knives, thereby interfering with the efficient curve downwardly in this feeding operation, paroperation of the cutter mechanism. It is also '20? ticularly paper sheets, so that they frequently customary With cuttersofthis character for the fail to pass between the cutters of the second or cut sheet or card to be discharged downwardly rear cutter mechanism and result in the imbetween the front and rear cutters. proper cutting of thesheet. The paper guide forming the present invention The present invention provides a meansto reprovides a support and guide for the end of the 25 ceive the end of the paper sheet in advance of sheet material, suchas paper or the like, as it is the second cutter mechanism to. prevent it from fed between the frontand rear cutters in order to curling and feed it between the cutter blades of positively guide the end of the sheet between the said second cutter mechanism so that when the rear cutter blades and prevent it from curling I cutters operate, the sheet will be cut to'the proper downwardly. 30 g size. The guide means is operated to disengage The frame of the rear: cutter structure is ing from the sheet just previous to the actual cutting dicated at 'l and'is of generally rectangular open so that as soon as the portion of the sheet cut to form having the stationary cutter blade 2 mountsize has been completed, it will drop down beed thereon and extending across the lower p'ortween the cutters for removal from the cutting tion of the opening in said frame at the front 35 1 mechanism in the usual manner. edge. The reciprocating cutter blade 3 extends The invention further comprises a guide vmechacross the opening in the. frame and is mounted anism that is readily adapted for attachment for vertical reciprocatingmovement on the front to the rear cutter mechanism in which a pair of edge of frame I with opposite ends, slidably 40 guide fingers are normally held in position to mounted in guides generally indicatedat 4 on4o, receive the end of sheet material being fed to the sides of frame I. Removable guide plates-5 the rear cutter blade with suitable means operated forming part of the guides 4 are secured to the I by the rear cutter blade for moving the fingers sides of frame I for detachably retaining reciproapart to disengage them from the sheet just prior eating cutter blade ,3 on the frame. p to cutting of the sheet material. I An operating shaft 6 is rotatably mounted in 45 In the drawings: bearings 1 formed on the side portions of frame I p Fig. 1 is a plan view of the rear cutter structure and driven from a suitable source of power, not of a double knife cutting mechanismshowing the shown. Operating arms 8 are mounted on shaft guide for sheet material mounted thereon. 6 connectedby links 9 with bearing brackets I0 Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the structure mounted on the'upper edge of reciprocating cut- 50 shown in Fig. 1. ter blade 3 so that in the oscillation of shaft 6 by Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on line 3- suitable means, not shown, cutterblade 3 will-be of Fig. 2. l reciprocated in guides 4 to cooperate with sta- I Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary planview tionary cutter blade '2 for the ,usual cutting with portions broken awayand.showninsection operation. 55 Z Guide plates 5 are formed with projections II. A supporting member I2 is formed with ears I3 at opposite ends arranged to seat on projections II and to receive bolts I4 for suitably securing supporting member I2 to projections II.

Supporting member I2 is formed with a longitudinal channel I5 having a pair of slide bars I6 mounted therein for longitudinal sliding movement. End plates II are detachably mounted on the ends of supporting member I2 for closing the open ends of channel I5. Projections I8 are mounted one on each end plate I1 and extend into bores I9 formed to extend inwardly from the outer ends of each slide bar IS. A coil spring 20 is housed in each bore I9 and engages the end of projection I8 for normally moving each slide bar I6 inwardly toward the other to their inner limit of movement against stop block 2I located in the center of guideway I5 and on one side thereof. The inner ends of slide bars I6 are bifurcated to rotatably receive rollers 22. Retaining plates 23 are detachably mounted on the top face of supporting member I2 for slidably retaining slide bars I6 in channel I5.

Slide bars I6 are each formed with a plurality of transversely extending threaded openings 24 adapted to receive screws 25, extending one through each supporting block 26 mounted one on top of each slide bar I6 and extending between retaining plates 23 for supporting, in connection with screws 25, guide fingers 21.

Guide fingers 21 are formed of suitable sheet metal or the like having an upper straight end portion 28 secured by screw 25 to the top of supporting block 26 at the free end while the opposite end portion of upper end 28 terminates in a downwardly extending portion 29 connected at the lower end to guide section 30. Guide section 36 extends forwardly from downwardly extending portion 29, and is of U-shape in cross section. The upper and lower flanges 3I and 32 of guide section 36 are inclined relative to one another to provide an opening at the rear end in advance of the cutter blades of relatively narrow dimension adjacent to lower end of portion 29, while the opening formed at the front end of flanges 3| and 32 is relatively wide, as clearly shown in Figs 3. Guide sections 36 of fingers 21 are formed in opposite relation toeach other to cooperate with opposite side edges of a sheet being fed toward the rear cutter blades 2 and 3.

As a sheet is fed toward rear cutter blades 2 and 3, the end of the sheet at opposite side edges thereof will engage in the wide end of section 30 and be guided by flanges 3| and 32 of the pair of guide fingers through the small end and between reciprocating and stationary cutter blades 2 and 3 in a manner that can be clearly determined from the drawings.

In order that the sheet or card after being cut by the cutter blades can drop downwardly or discharge from the cutter mechanism, guide fingers 21 are mounted on slide bars I6 for movement apart to disengage from the side edges of the sheet guided thereby. For this purpose a bracket 33 is mounted on the upper edge of reciprocating cutter blade 3, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, which carries cam strip 34 adjustably mounted on the free end thereof by means of bolt 35. Cam strip 34 has angular cam faces 36 on the lower end thereof as shown in Fig. 2.

Cam strip 34 moves downwardly as reciprocating cutter blade 3 moves downwardly in the operation thereof for cutting a sheet in cooperation with stationary cutter blade 2. Cam 'faces 36 of cam strip 34 engage between rollers 22 in downward movement as indicated in Fig. 2, producing endwise movement of slide bars I6 in guides I5 in opposite directions away from each other against the tension of coil springs 20. As guide fingers 27 are mounted on slide bars I6, they move apart with the movement of the slide bars to a sufficient extent that flanges 3| and 32 will move outwardly beyond the side edges of the paper strip or sheet guided thereby so that as the cutters complete their cutting operation, the cut card or' sheet will immediately drop downwardly from the cutter mechanism.

As reciprocating cutter blade 3 moves upwardly to its upper position, it carries cam strip 34 with it until the lower end moves upwardly to the position of Fig. 2 wherein it is located above supporting member I2 and slide bars I6 so that coil springs 20 will slidably move slide bars I6 toward each other until they engage stop 2!, whereupon guide fingers 21 will be in position to guide the next sheet between cutters 2 and 3.

The plurality of openings 24 provides for the mounting of supporting block 26 and guide fingers 2'! in different positions on slide bars I6 in order to take different widths of sheets for guiding and cutting in the cutter mechanism.

Cam strip 34 is provided with a vertical slot to receive securing bolt allowing vertical adjustment of cam strip 34 so that its operation can be timed in connection with the operation of reciprocating cutter blade 3 to operate guide fingers 21 in a desired timed relation with the operation of the cutter mechanism.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a cutter having a frame carrying a stationary cutter blade and a reciprocating cutter blade for cooperation with said stationary cutter blade in cutting sheet material, a guide for the material to be cut comprising a pair of guide fingers formed in opposed relation to receive opposite side edges of sheet material in advance of the cutter blades for supporting and guiding said sheet material between said cutter blades in advance of the cutting stroke of said reciprocating cutter blade, means mounted on said frame slidably carrying said guide fingers for sliding movement in a plane parallel with said cutter blades, means normally moving said guide fingers toward each other into sheet guiding position, and means on said reciprocating cutter blade for moving said fingers apart to disengage from the sheet guided therebetween as the reciprocating cutter blade descends.

2. In a cutter having a frame carrying a stationary cutter blade and a reciprocating cutter blade for cooperation with said stationary cutter blade in cutting sheet material, guide mechanism in advance of said blades for guiding sheet material between said blades for cutting, comprising a pair of oppositely formed guide fingers in opposed relation to receive and guide sheet material by slidably receiving opposite edges, means slidably mounting said fingers for movement normally toward each other, and means on said reciprocating cutter blade for moving said guide fingers away from each other to disengage a sheet guided therein as the reciprocating cutter is operated to out said sheet.

3.. In a cutter having a frame carrying a stationary cutter blade and a reciprocating cutter blade for cooperation with said stationary cutter blade for cutting sheet material, guide mechanism in advance of said blades for guiding sheet material between said blades comprising a-supportfingers toward each other into position to engage andguide the opposite edges of sheet material, and means mounted on said reciprocating cutter blade for engaging and moving said guide fingers away from each other as said reciprocating cutter blade moves toward cutting position for disengaging said guide fingers from sheet material being cut.

4. In a cutter having a frame carrying a stationary cutter blade and a reciprocating cutter blade for cooperation with said stationary cutter blade in cutting sheet material, guide mechanism in advance of said blades for guiding sheet material between said blades comprising a supporting member mounted on said frame in front of said cutter blades, a pair of slide bars slidably mounted on said supporting member for move ment toward and from each other, means normally moving said slide bars toward each other, a pair of guide fingers arranged in opposed relation and mounted on respective slide bars for movement therewith toward and from each other, said guide fingers being normally held in guiding position for guiding sheet material between said cutter blades in separated position, and means on said reciprocating cutter blade for moving said slide members and guide fingers apart to disengage said guide fingers from engagement with a sheet guided thereby as said reciprocating cutter blade moves into cutting position.

5. In a cutter having a frame carrying a stationary cutter blade and a reciprocating cutter blade for cooperation with said stationary cutter blade in cutting sheet material, guide mechanism in advance of said blades for guiding sheet material between said blades, comprising a supporting member mounted on said frame in advance of and in parallel relation to said blades, a pair of slide bars mounted for longitudinal sliding movement on said supporting member, means normally moving said slide bars toward each other and the central portion of said supporting member, means for limiting the movement of said slidebars toward each other, .a pair of oppositelyl formed guide fingers detachably and adjustably mounted on said slide bars for movement therewith toward and from each other and normally held with said slide bars in position to-receive the opposite edge portion of sheet material for guiding said sheet material between said cutter blades in separated relation, and operating means on said reciprocating cutter blade for engaging and moving said slide bars away from each other to disengage said guide fingers from the opposite edges of a paper sheet as the reciprocating cutter blade moves into cutting position.

6. In a cutter having a frame carrying a stationary cutter blade and a reciprocating cutter blade for cooperation with'said stationary cutter blade in cutting sheet material, guide mechanism in advance of said blades for guiding sheet material between said blades, comprising a supporting member mounted on saidframe in front of, said stationary cutter blade and parallel thereto, said supporting member having a guide channel extending longitudinally thereof, a pair of slide bars slidably mounted on said supporting member in said guide channel in end to end relation, resilient means engaged between outer end portions of said slide bars and said supporting member for normally moving said slide bars toward each other, stop means on said supporting member for limiting movement of said slide bars in said channel, a pair of oppositely formed guide fingers, each mounted on one of said slide bars in detachable and adjustable relation and having U-shaped end portions facing toward each other for receiving opposite edge portions of a sheet being fed toward said c-utter blades for 

